Spitting, Stalking, Rape Threats: How Gun Extremists Target Women Welcome to the dark side of Americ

Spitting, Stalking, Rape Threats: How Gun Extremists Target Women
Welcome to the dark side of America’s war over guns.

Mark FollmanMay. 15, 2014 10:00 AM

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A threatening “Mother’s Day” video aimed at women calling for gun reforms

As Jennifer Longdon steered her wheelchair through the Indianapolis airport on April 25, she thought the roughest part of her trip was over. Earlier that day she’d participated in an emotional press conference with the new group Everytown for Gun Safety, against the backdrop of the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting. A mom, gun owner, and Second Amendment supporter, Longdon was paralyzed in 2004 after being shot in her car by unknown assailants, and has since been a vocal advocate for comprehensive background checks and other gun reforms.

As Longdon sat waiting for her flight, a screen in the concourse showed footage of the press conference. A tall, thin man standing nearby stared at Longdon, then back at the screen. Then he walked up to Longdon and spat in her face. No one else blinked.Longdon was shocked and embarrassed, she told me, but she didn’t falter. “Wow, aren’t you a big man,” she said as he turned and walked away. Instead of calling for security, she wheeled herself to a restroom to clean herself off. She was tired—she lives with constant physical pain—and didn’t want to miss her flight. “Should I have done something more? Quite honestly, in the scheme of things it was a little man and a little moment,” she said. “He felt to me like a coward and a bully.”

What happened to Longdon in Indianapolis is part of a disturbing pattern. Ever since the Sandy Hook massacre, a small but vocal faction of the gun rights movement has been targeting women who speak up on the issue—whether to propose tighter regulations, educate about the dangers to children, or simply to sell guns with innovative security features. The vicious and often sexually degrading attacks have evolved far beyond online trolling, culminating in severe bullying, harassment, invasion of privacy, and physical aggression. Though vitriol flows from both sides in the gun debate, these menacing tactics have begun to alarm even some entrenched pro-gun conservatives.


Jennifer Longdon Everytown for Gun Safety

“It Was Like a Mock Execution”
Longdon is no stranger to such attacks. Last May in her hometown of Phoenix, she helped coordinate a gun buyback program with local police over three weekends. On the first Saturday, a group of men assembled across the street from the church parking lot where Longdon was set up. They shouted about constitutional rights and tyranny, and called people arriving to trade in their guns “sellouts.” (The program netted nearly 2,000 firearms with more than $200,000 in reimbursements.) Some of them approached Longdon. “You know what was wrong with your shooting?” one said. “They didn’t aim better.” Another man came up, looked Longdon up and down and said, “I know who you are.” Then he recited her home address. The harassment continued, and the men showed up throughout the program, a Phoenix police official involved confirmed to me.

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https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/guns-bullying-open-carry-women-moms-texas/


Pro-Gun Activists Make Heinous, Misognynistic Threats to Virginia Mom

(you have to go to the link below to read the youtube comments, I cannot embed them)



Male pro-gun activists frequently target Americans who work in the field of gun violence prevention in an attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten, and generally deter them from working to strengthen our nation €™s gun laws. And the €œsofter € the target, the better-because there is certainly nothing brave about abusing someone online behind the anonymity of a keyboard. Sadly, the brunt of these attacks has often fallen on women.

One such woman is Abby Spangler. Spangler-a mother of two young children who lives in Alexandra, Virginia-started the Protest Easy Guns movement following the horrific mass shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. At that point, she realized she couldn €™t remain silent anymore. “I’d been thinking, ‘Is this what we’ve come to in America?’ € she told the Washington Post. “But when Virginia Tech happened, I said, ‘I’ve had enough.’ Then when I found out the Virginia Tech shooter got his gun in a matter of minutes, I was outraged. I decided that someone had to speak out and say this is unacceptable. We’re not just going to light candles to mourn the victims. We’re going to protest for change.”

And that is exactly what Spangler has done. In just a matter of four years, her protest movement has spread across the nation. To date, more than 110 €œLie-In € protests have been conducted in more than 30 states by Protest Easy Guns volunteers. These protests have called for common-sense gun laws to prevent individuals who are clearly violent and/or deranged from easily obtaining firearms.

The success of her movement has brought Spangler acclaim from Americans concerned about the 30,000+ gun deaths each year in the United States, and venom from gun rights activists. Recently, Abby shared with us the following communications she has received from gun rights activists online. They speak for themselves:

https://www.csgv.org/pro-gun-activists-make-heinous-misognynistic-threats-to-virginia-mom/